On Sept. 22, Bell Canada President and CEO George Cope announced at the TIFF Bell Light box, “On behalf of everyone involved in Bell Let’s Talk, I am proud to announce a five-year extension of the initiative and an increase in Bell’s funding commitment to $100 million or more, based on the continued engagement of Canadians in Bell Let’s Talk Day.” The Bell Let’s Talk initiative provides funds for both large and small-scale mental health partners, having already supported over 600 across the country since the initiative was launched on Sept. 21, 2010 with a $50 million donation. Clara Hughes, Canadian Olympic athlete and Bell Let’s Talk spokesperson, told CP24 that the $100 million that has been committed over the next five years will be “spent on injecting funds into Canada, and to organizations, from grassroots community organizations to the universities and hospitals.”
Hughes added, “It is allowing for outreach, it’s allowing for research, that allows Canadians from all walks of life to access resources and support for people who are struggling and feeling alone.”
However, fundraising is only one piece of this campaign. “What it really is to me,” said Canadian sports journalist Michael Lansburg, “is trying to reach that one lonely person, that would never share, that would never go for help. If we can reach that person, over and over, and over again, we are doing something we are really blessed to do.”
Mental health is the number one cause of workplace disability, and each year will cost the national economy $50 billion. It will affect one in five people but as few as one in three will actually seek assistance. The Bell Let’s Talk initiative is based on four pillars±—anti-stigma, care and access, new research, and workplace leadership —that are intended to help create and facilitate conversations about mental health on a national level.
Since the campaign was first announced five years ago, over half a billion messages on Bell Let’s Talk Day have been sent out, with the campaign raising over $73 million. As well, #BellLetsTalk was the number one trending topic around the world last year. Eighty-one per cent of Canadians say they are more aware of mental health issues than they were five years ago, and 70 per cent believe that attitudes have improved, according to a 2015 Nielsen survey.
Bell Let’s Talk Day will take place on Jan. 27, 2016, and for every message of hope or support sent out using the #BellLetsTalk hashtag, five cents will be donated by Bell to mental health partners across the country. Messages can be sent via text, email, tweet, a post, or a call. It does not matter how we talk, just that we do.
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The Ontarion publishes independent, student-produced news, opinion, and commentary for University of Guelph students so that they can make informed decisions in their lives. To do this, The Ontarion provides learning opportunities and training in journalism, media production, leadership, board governance, and other aspects of nonprofit news.
The Ontarion is the University of Guelph’s independent student newspaper. It began in 1951 as part of the Ontario Agricultural College and then began to represent the entire University of Guelph once it amalgamated in 1964. The Ontarion incorporated in May 1970 as The Ontarion, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation registered with the province of Ontario.